Thousands to rally outside statehouse as lawmakers return to work

They've hit the phones, sent the e-mails and even had face-to-face meetings. On Tuesday, service providers take their message en masse to the state Capitol in hopes of getting better answers.

Andrew Thomason and Eric Naing

They've hit the phones, sent the e-mails and even had face-to-face meetings. On Tuesday, service providers take their message en masse to the state Capitol in hopes of getting better answers.

About 5,000 black-clad protestors plan to welcome the legislature back to Springfield for a special session meant to hash out some of the state's problems, including human service organizations that could see their funding cut in half in the next budget year.

They promise this won't be another ordinary legislative rally.

"Every day, you can find another rally, you can find another group that is interested in their issue. What is different is this time ... everyone is coming together as a whole," said Sara Moscato Howe, chief executive officer of the Illinois Alcohol and Drug Dependence Association.

Protestors range from human service supports to clients and workers. Different groups will be given an opportunity at the 11:30 a.m. Capitol Rotunda rally to speak to about the situation, and those who show up are encouraged to try to meet face-to-face with their legislators.

Lawmakers say they welcome that opportunity as they get back to work mid-afternoon.

"When you have people willing to go to this effort, that certainly influences how you think," said Rep. Rich Brauer, R-Petersburg.

The new budget year starts July 1, and Gov. Pat Quinn has called legislators back to fix a budget that included money for many state expenses but huge shortfalls in some areas. If those holes aren't filled with Quinn's push for an income tax increase, the governor has said he'll have no choice but to move ahead with thousands of layoffs and program slashing.

An estimated budget hole of more than $9 billion would mean more than 10,000 state workers could be let go, and 10 times that many provider employees could get cut. More than 140,000 children could lose child care assistance, programs for the developmentally disabled would be cut by 40 percent or eliminated and mental health and drug addiction treatment would see major losses.

The governor, at an appearance in Springfield on Monday, dodged questions about whether he would approve a short-term spending plan to avoid cuts if lawmakers don't provide more money before the state’s new fiscal year starts July 1.

"I want to make it crystal clear to legislators: We're not doing any half-baked proposal. We're going to go and work and work and work until we get a fair budget," Quinn said.

Quinn's schedule has him attending the rally.

Prior to the rally at the Capitol, a plethora of human service providers from the Springfield area will be having a forum where local lawmakers are invited to discuss the cuts. It runs from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel in downtown Springfield.

"I hope what it will do is demonstrate to (legislators) the intensity that we all feel and help them see that they must do something," said Ann Ford, the executive director for the Illinois Network of Centers for Independent Living and one of the forum's organizers.

The public activities are a building-up of efforts, rather than a beginning for most organizations.

According to Anders Lindall, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, hundreds of their members will be at the rally in a continuation of weeks of lobbying.

AFSCME members have "picketed, marched and met one-on-one with dozens of lawmakers," Lindall said. "For the last several weeks, we have sustained an intensive e-mail and phone campaign by our members that has generated many thousands of calls and messages to lawmakers, and those calls and messages are continuing."

The AARP set up a hotline to connect members with their legislators. So far more than 5,000 people have used the service, according to AARP Spokesman David Irwin.

"If the legislators are listening to their constituents and the individuals that are going to be affected, they are going to send this budget back," Irwin said.

People involved with the Ounce of Prevention Fund, an early childhood education advocacy group, have sent almost 6,000 e-mails and made hundreds of calls to their lawmakers, spokeswoman Jelene Britten said.

Dan Schwick, spokesman for Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, said his group has called on about 1,000 members of a grassroots network to bombard lawmakers with calls and e-mails.

Both Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, and Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, said they have been on the receiving end of those e-mails, phone calls and meetings with people frightened by funding cuts.

Syverson said that in talking with his constituents he tells them the massive cuts to human services won't happen because Quinn's doomsday scenario is simply a scare tactic and nothing more.

Regardless, Schwick says, "everybody is holding their breath."

Andrew Thomason can be reached at (217) 782-6882 or andrew.thomason@sj-r.com. Eric Naing can be reached at (217) 782-3095 or eric.naing@sj-r.com.

Some of the events going on Tuesday at the state Capitol:

8:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. - Social service providers have a forum at the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel in downtown Springfield to talk with local legislators about devastation caused by possible state budget cuts.

10:30 a.m. - Advocacy groups fighting domestic violence and sexual assault and others gather at the Abraham Lincoln Statue on the east side of the Capitol, with tents, to show the impact of possible budget cuts to their services.

11 a.m. - Service providers meet at the state Capitol's Lincoln statue, then march nearby to Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office and the state Republican Party office in downtown Springfield to warn about budget cuts.

11:30 a.m. - About 5,000 providers, workers and clients rally in the state Capitol Rotunda along with Gov. Pat Quinn against budget cuts.

2 p.m. - Lawmakers are in the first day of special session on the state budget.